And excellent move By Prime Minister Jamali. :k:
If the mullahs and clerics won’t take a lead in rooting out such activties in the mosques and madrassahs, then the government will have to.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_19-7-2003_pg1_1
Sectarian activities to be disallowed in mosques, seminaries
Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali on Friday expressed the government’s resolve to prevent the use of mosques and madrassas for inciting sectarian hatred. He was chairing an inter-provincial meeting to review the law and order situation in the country. All provincial governors, chief ministers, chief secretaries, inspector generals of police as well as federal interior and finance ministers and heads of civil armed forces attended the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. “The prime minister vowed to prevent the use of mosques and madrassas for fanning sectarian hatred and directed the provincial governments to ensure that these institutions are only used for the purpose they have been set up for,” sources said. Mr Jamali said the government was determined to combat lawlessness and terrorism and ensure the writ of the government across the country. Official sources told Daily Times the meeting discussed a four-point agenda which included the overall law and order situation in the country; the terrorist attack in Quetta; law and order in the area where the boundaries of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab meet; and the implementation of police reforms.
The meeting also approved a national plan for handling law and order along the confluence of the three provinces. “The prime minister approved Rs 600 millions for setting up 10 new police stations, police checks-posts and the provision of infrastructure in the area,” sources added. They said during the meeting the provincial governments submitted their plans to improve law and order, particularly measures to prevent terrorist attacks. The prime minister said terrorists were conspiring to hinder the economic growth in Pakistan. “They want to deprive the people of the fruits of development by discouraging prospective investors, local as well as foreign,” the prime minister said. He said the government was determined to combat terrorism in all its forms. “All sections of society have a responsibility towards supplementing the government’s efforts for stamping out the menace of terrorism and sectarianism. “We must rise to the occasion and secure the future of our people by putting up a sustained and determined fight against terrorism,” the premier said. He appreciated the law enforcement agencies’ performance for their probe into the recent terrorist attack in Quetta, and for conducting an operation to root out crime at the juncture of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab.
He said manpower and equipment needs of the law enforcement agencies would be met on priority basis. The meeting deliberated upon ways to ‘tighten the noose around the terrorists’ neck’, sources said. It underlined the need for better coordination between the intelligence-gathering and law enforcement agencies to ‘achieve the desired results’. The meeting also reviewed the investigation of recent terrorism incidents and the strategy to prevent their recurrence. The meeting observed that improved coordination among the law enforcement agencies and prompt preemptive action to nail terrorists could prevent terrorism. Earlier, Interior Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat briefed the meeting about the overall law and order situation in the country and explained the measures by the government to improve police efficiency. The Balochistan chief minister said the three culprits involved in the Quetta attack had been identified along with their accomplices, who had been apprehended. He briefed the meeting about the operation launched in Balochistan’s border areas with Punjab and Sindh.